Shadow of Death
by MarcusJuniusBrutus
Summary: One Shot. (Sequel to 'Shadows and Moonlight') Remus gets sorted after getting his wand.


Disclaimer: No one and nothing here is mine.  
  
SHADOW OF DEATH (sequel to SHADOWS AND MOONLIGHT)  
  
Remus squeezed his eyes shut, feeling his heart rate increasing with every name called by Professor MacGonagall. "Avery, Samuel."  
  
She placed the Sorting Hat on a cocky young boy's head, and without a moment's hesitation, it called out, "Slytherin!" The boy smirked knowingly and trotted down to his new companions.  
  
But a cold lump was forming in Lupin's throat. What if he was sorted into Slytherin? It was a house infamous for the dark wizards that came from it. He himself was not a dark wizard of course...  
  
"Black, Sirius."  
  
"Gryffindor!"  
  
That was a surprise, considering the famous Slytherins in the Black family. But this thought only brought back more awful thoughts of dark arts, and dark arts creatures. Like him.  
  
"Diggle, Dedalus."  
  
"Hufflepuff!"  
  
Remus Lupin clasped his hands together in an effort to keep them from shaking. Seeing this, a short boy with mousy brown hair offered him an encouraging smile, which the werewolf struggled to return. But his had strayed to his wand, as he remembered his trip to Ollivander's just a few weeks previously.  
  
His hands had been clammy with sweat as he went through twenty or so wands. The grey-haired owner of the shop, Mr. Ollivander, had assured him that this was perfectly normal. "One moment," he had said critically, looking Remus up and down. Then he offered him another wand. "Try this," he said hesitantly, breaking his normal routine by not first saying what kind it was.  
  
The instant Remus's hand touched it, every negative feeling had, at least temporarily, been banished from his mind. A ball of fire exploded from the end of it, fortunately dispersing before it could burn anything.  
  
"Yes, I thought so," the shopkeeper murmured.  
  
"Thought what?" Mrs. Lupin prompted.  
  
Mr. Ollivander cleared his throat. "Ten inches, yew wood. Ashwinder ash core."  
  
"Is that... unusual?" she asked, looking concerned.  
  
"Oh, yes. Ashwinder ash is typically associated with Defense Against the Dark Arts, but yew is the Wood of Death, and generally used for dark arts themselves."  
  
"The Wood of Death?"  
  
"Lupin, Remus." The sound of his name jolted him out of his reverie. Quickly, he put away the wand he finally realized he was clutching white- knuckled.  
  
As he perched on the stool tentatively and the Sorting Hat was placed on his head, he saw MacGonagall stiffen. This was understandable, for he was the first werewolf to go to Hogwarts, and the elaborate precautions to conceal him every full moon were newly set up.  
  
"You are exceptionally intelligent," said a voice inside his head, which Remus assumed to be the Sorting Hat. he hoped his startled jump was not too noticeable to the rest of the Great Hall, but to his shame, he realized that he had nearly fallen off the stool. There were several snickers around him, and his pale cheeks flushed uncomfortably. "Normally, I would put you in Ravenclaw, but you have a good deal of practical skill as well, so I think you would do better in..."  
  
"Gryffindor!" the hat said loudly.  
  
Lupin could have cried with joy if the last five years had not taught him that nothing was as perfect as it seemed. This was constantly reinforced by the presence of his wand. Defense Against the Dark Arts was all well and good, but it was combined with yew wood.  
  
He handed the hat back to MacGonagall, then felt his rush of adrenaline drop away as he hurried to sit with his housemates. The lack of energy made him suddenly light-headed, and though he put his hand on the table to steady himself, before he could sit down, he collapsed in a dead faint.  
  
He woke up later in the Medical Wing, with Madame Pomfrey, the school nurse, hovering over him. "You're awake. Good."  
  
He gulped and nodded, though he wasn't sure which statement it was directed at.  
  
"We'll be seeing a lot of each other over the next seven years, unless you plan on dropping out."  
  
He shook his head mutely.  
  
"Good. Then as long as you're here, I may as well explain to you how your monthly excursions will be arranged." She quickly stopped, seeing the door open and a cluster of young heads poke in.  
  
"We wanted to see if that boy was all right," a redheaded girl said with concern in her voice and green eyes.  
  
"Well, now that you've seen that he is, you may go." When they hesitated, she insisted, "Go on!" with a wave of her arms.  
  
When the door was shut again and the other children had left, Madame Pomfrey sighed. "I can already tell this will be an interesting year.  
  
Lupin only nodded, clutched his wand, and stared out the window at the crescent moon. 


End file.
